The colour blue connotes many things: emotion, temperature, depth, space. When a picture is washed in blue, it might feel melancholic and sad, or vast and optimistic like an open sky. In art, blue can be associated with Picasso’s blue period, or the Virgin Mary who is often garbed in blue cloth. When one thinks of blue in photography, they might think of colour as a whole, the alternative to black and white photography. Instead, let’s think of cyanotype.

Cyanotype is a photographic printing process invented in 1842 by Sir John Herschel. It is characterised by its striking blue monochrome. It is a relatively simple developing process, but never gained large momentum in the photographic world due to its distinctive colour. It instead became popular with architects and draughtspeople since it is considered the first photocopying process and is also known as blueprints. This is where we get the term ‘Blueprint’ from, the cyanotype copy of the original architectural drawing.

Sir John Herschel was a pioneer of photography. He was one of the many inventors racing to come up with a means to permanently capture an image. Though he helped others who have been credited with the invention of photography, he is solely credited with cyanotype. The process was not popular when it was introduced. Many were not a fan of the deep blue colour, preferring the more neutral black and browns seen in contemporary photography of the time. Instead, it was picked up by botanists to document and share the natural world.

Anna Children Atkins was a British botanist. She used cyanotype to copy images of plants, allowing her to better study their physical characteristics. Atkins studied botany during the 19th century, a time when women were pushed away from many scientific fields. She published “British Algae” in 1843, which was composed of many cyanotypes and captured the forms of algae and other plants in Britain.

The distinctive blue colour is not all that characterises cyanotypes. Like many prints and photographs, cyanotypes fade when exposed to light. Their blue becomes dull and grey, reduced to a faded white. This can all be easily reversed – which is unique to these blue toned images. The blue will reappear after the image has been placed in darkness. Though light is often a danger to fine art and photography, it is only a temporary nuisance for cyanotypes.

From their invention in the mid 19th century, cyanotypes have been a niche photographic process. Their striking blue tones are beautiful, and faded colour can be brought back by some time away from light. Come see a sample of the cyanotypes in TMU’s Special Collections this January. Take inspiration from its scientific history, its use in artist photographs, its popularity in architecture, or simply enjoy its blue hues.

Bibliography:

Anderson, Christina. Cyanotype : The Blueprint in Contemporary Practice. Routledge, 2019. https://doi-org.ezproxy.lib.torontomu.ca/10.4324/9780429441417

Lotzof, Kerry. “Anna Atkins’s cyanotypes: the first book of photographs.” Natural History Museum. https://www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/anna-atkins-cyanotypes-the-first-book-of-photographs.html

Schaaf, Larry J. “The Cyanotypes of Pioneering Photographer Anna Atkins.” National Gallery of Canada, November 26, 2020. https://www.gallery.ca/magazine/your-collection/the-cyanotypes-of-pioneering-photographer-anna-atkins

Ware, Mike. Cyanotype : The History, Science and Art of Photographic Printing in Prussian Blue. Science Museum, 1999.